Support
by DeAbstract
Summary: Cordelia watched as he poured himself a cup, his face truly serene, his eyebrows relaxed and his eyes half-lidded. Now she had an idea as to why Lissa found him oh so handsome. "May I have some?" (Lon'qu x Cordelia) *Edited, no more p style!*


**Prologue**

Rubbing her shoulder was an involuntary motion at this point. With the excessive training that the Shepherds were forced to participate in, even the "near perfect" Cordelia was beginning to feel the sting of an overworked body. Her lungs had a tiny fire ignite with each breath she took due to the cold air rushing down her lungs. With the reigns of her pegasus in her free, non-rubbing hand, she led her beast of burden to a babbling brook. The gentle creature began to calmly drink as Cordelia scanned the area for her target. She spotted him circling a tree, blade drawn, stance fierce.

"Excuse me!" Her voice cut through the air, strong and sure.

His body tensed and whipped around, his sword ready to strike, but upon seeing her, slowly and cautiously sheathed his blade. "Yes?"

Cordelia didn't so much as flinch when he whipped around with his sword, with the babbling brook separating them, she vaguely knew that this man wasn't the sort to attack without identifying his target. "I am Cordelia, proud pegasus knight of Ylisse. I'm quite certain we've never held a proper introduction."

He remained silent, his broad shoulders tensed but low, his dark eyes angrily glared into hers.

"Lon'qu. Previous swordsman of Khan Basilio."

"Well it's a pleasu-"

"State your business," He barked, obviously not caring for meandering introductions.

Cordelia, not one to be caught in awkward situations rolled on smoothly, yet felt quite annoyed. "There's a council meeting back at camp. It's time to head back."

Lon'qu regarded her quietly for a moment, before nodding. A man of few words. With his hand on the butt of his sword, he waded across the brook, not caring if the water was quite freezing. His hair whipped around in the cold breeze and framed his face as he turned his head toward the flow of wind. As he neared Cordelia, his jaw tensed and he changed his course to be a greater distance than her. As he arrived at the other side and began to walk ahead of the girl, he heard her scoff.

The red-haired maiden of graceful destruction, grabbed her pegasus' reigns and followed a distance behind him, dully noting his discomfort toward her. She studied his backside and noted his characteristics, firm angry steps, tense broad shoulders, slightly spiky hair. She didn't understand the hype that girls back at camp, _Lissa_ , constantly spread about this mysterious myrmidon. He was nothing like Chrom. This much she could tell, and she barely knew him from a previous meeting in combat and their formal introduction.

"Er," He stopped suddenly.

Cordelia caught up to him and stood a respectable distance away, her pegasus nibbling at her hair. "Yes?"

"Why did you come to my assistance in the past battle?" He interrogated, but not with anger.

"Well you seemed beset by enemies," She pondered to herself mostly. "Just a comrade in need of assistance."

"You are not wrong in that," Lon'qu mused, seemingly with a less serious note."I am in your debt. Should you need anything, say the word."

As he turned to continue walking, Cordelia piped up, her voice strong and womanly. "Lon'qu, I don't believe in such things as a debt..."

He glowered at her, his mouth in a disapproving frown.

"Well since you seem quite serious about this," Cordelia continued nervously, missing his lighter tone of being. "My fencing needs work, a lot of it. Seeing you in combat has been one of the most near perfection demonstrations of the sword welding art since prince Chrom..."

Lon'qu lowered his eyes and scoffed. "If that is what you truly want...Cordelia."

A smirk played at his lips just as he turned, Cordelia had almost missed it.

* * *

"I know of your tendency to keep away from women," Cordelia said with an understanding smile that irked Lon'qu slightly. "I'm quite good at receiving verbal instruction."

"I have no intention of touching you for demonstration," Lon'qu reiterated. "Let's start with your practice. Let us have a duel, and show me what you know."

He unsheathed his practice sword and twirled it around all his fingers, warming his body up for maximum mobility. Cordelia being more experienced with the lance, unsheathed her sword less fluidly. They circled each other for a bit, and Cordelia watched in fascination as Lon'qu's inclinations to stay away from women melted away. His eyes were dark and intense, as he drew near ever so slightly. Expertly, she copied his footwork and he smirked at the copycat.

"Already trying to learn I see?"

"Learn while I can I suppose," Cordelia flexed her sword diagonally to defend herself against his hard swing downward. The wood clashed with a hard thwack. She felt herself falter from his brute strength, her surprise and slight fear of losing a practice match flashed in her eyes. "Gods you're strong!"

"I thought we had established this."

Lon'qu jumped back and swung his sword flashily around his fingers, slicing through the air expertly before stabbing his sword into the ground. _Oh Gods, he's a cocky man as well._

Her fiery crimson eyes grew fierce as she eyed his now pacifying stance. "What's wrong, why have you stopped?"

With a annoyed grunt at how demanding her tone was, Lon'qu began to walk a safe distance away from her. He stood a good 10 feet away from her. He studied her, already panting a bit just from defending a blow. The hair on her crown stuck to her forehead, and her plump lips were parted and curved into a frustrated frown. She reminded him of _her_. "It's unfair for the duel to continue. Should I beat you, you would become frustrated. We have time to practice, let's set up a couple of dummies."

Cordelia nodded in understanding, not one to question the authority of someone who knew more than her. "Thank you, Lon'qu. You are truly a comrade. How long would you be so kind to train me for?"

Her maroon eyes glimmered at his kindness, fearing that she'd judged him wrong all this time.

"As soon as you show signs of _possibly_ beating me, afterward we shall no longer maintain contact."

"Gods, right when I thought that I had pinned you on the wrong stake."

Lon'qu flinched uncomfortably at her words. There was an uncomfortable silence before the handsome myrmidon found the correct words. "There is nothing I hold...against you. Or women for that matter. I have my reasons for the way that I am."

Cordelia rolled and rubbed her shoulders, releasing a groan. Lon'qu feared that he'd upset her even more but instantly regressed back to feeling uncomfortable once she raised her head with a frightfully charming smile. "To be honest I feel relieved, Lon'qu. I feared that I had added to your resentment for women."

"We'll meet here tomorrow evening during our training period," Lon'qu stated eagerly trying to change the subject. "You need a lot of work."

"Understood."

* * *

"Well I understand where you're coming from," Robin drawled unconvinced, twiddling her curls in her hand. "But you guys were awesome on the battlefield. Amazing chemistry."

"Chemistry? Gods Robin it was one battle!"

"Cordelia," Robin said authoritatively, fingering through the pages of her tattered strategy book. "You backing up Lon'qu, him backing you up, getting closer, I can see it now..."

Cordelia could barely understand what Robin was saying and definitely didn't want to know what was going on in her pretty, genius head. Robin raised her honey-colored eyes to Cordelia's smoldering vermillion ones before lowering them again to her book. Cordelia shifted her weight onto her left leg and regarded Robin's hands as she quickly flipped through the pages of her book. The elegant gold band on her slender fingers pierced Cordelia and twisted the blade in her heart; she felt no anger toward Robin in the slightest. Well, maybe a little bit. She swooped into the Shepherds, barely knowing her own name! Coming up with brilliant strategies to pull the army through victories, facing no casualties. She also was pretty brilliant at seducing the man Cordelia had been in love with since she was ten years old.

"Hello?" Robin waved her hand and smiled warmly at Cordelia's glazed over expression.

 _She has some big breasts too..._

"Oh, sorry!" Cordelia blushed in embarrassment and tightened her grip on her lance for support.

"I appreciate you being considerate about his...attitude toward women, but I'm sure he just needs some warming up."

"So you want me to spend more time with him?" Cordelia tried getting to the chase.

"Thank goodness—oh I mean, you said it not me!" Robin sipped her tea as if she was drowning a shot of the finest alcohol, and she was a homeless drunk. "Lon'qu has recently joined our army, and you have as well. I really can't have you guys fighting independently. I want absolutely no casualties."

Cordelia pondered this. She had heard from Captain Phila, of the amnesiac wonder tactician that was sprinting the Shepherds to victory with some sort of "partner" system. "With the Pegasus Knights, we are trained to be quite adept in one-on-one battle."

Robin waved her hands in understanding, but from the glint in her eyes, Cordelia knew that the long, curly haired brunette was firm in her beliefs. "I _totally_ get it. But by partnering up, you can see openings in the enemy to attack after your comrade lands a strike, or weakness in your partner that you can quickly defend before we risk further injuries. Please, and I'm sorry to sound all strict and bitchy but..."

The busty brunette lowered herself on the floor, slamming her head on the floor, with her arms extended out toward Cordelia. "Please please please partner up with Lon'qu it's an order!"

Well, Robin was alright in Cordelia's book.

* * *

"Lon'qu?" Cordelia called as she spotted him with thick cut of ham, cheese, and bread scurrying quickly from the mess-hall tent toward his own tent.

His body twitched as she called his name and he came to a halt. _Damn it and I was right about to make it safe_. "Cordelia."

She jogged over to him, her armor clanking a bit. "I had some news to deliver you from Robin, but uh, I see you're about to eat!" She thought back to what Robin had told her about breaking down the walls between her and Lon'qu and clasped her hands behind her back. "Could I join you actually? It might take a while..."

 _Haha, I really could tell him in two minutes._

Lon'qu breathed out slowly, and he nodded hesitantly before heading into his tent not bothering to hold the flap open for her. He plopped down at his tiny table and spread out his food. "Er," He grunted to himself, looking at her from the corner of his eyes as she stood awkwardly in the corner of the room. "You can have a seat, Cordelia."

"Oh, thank you," Cordelia exclaimed as she grabbed a nearby stool and scooted it toward the table adjacent to him. Noticing him cringing at the proximity, she casually scooted it over so that they were sitting across from one another. After studying what he had retrieved from the mess hall, she mused out loud to him. "This is a pretty simple harvest. You didn't want the main course of the day?"

"No," He said, while tossing his hair with his hand, his voice low and firm.

"Who's turn was it to cook tonight?"

Lon'qu not being one for idle chatter, especially with a _woman_ , shifted in his seat annoyed. "The fool Gaius."

Cordelia's laugh rang through the tent, her hand covered her mouth shyly. "The fool? Well I never tried his cooking, I haven't been here that long."

"This is the second day he's cooked. It wasn't supper, more like a dessert."

The tent's special fabric allowed for a soft ray of sunshine to illuminate the tent. As Cordelia sat across from and twiddled her thumbs, Lon'qu took the opportunity to slice the loaf of bread horizontally with a knife so sharp it could slice rolled up paper clean. Afterward he took to cutting the ham and cheese in sloppy, thick slices. His hands strong and sure in their purpose. Cordelia watched silently, and she noticed that her silence had put him at ease and he was no loner tense with the potential of conversation looming over his head. He spread the slices of cheese and meat over the bread and placed the top half back onto it.

"What is that?" Cordelia asked incredulously, not caring if he was once more put on edge. She was there to make him become used to her, for easy fighting, for synchronization.

"I don't have a name for it."

"It looks delicious!"

"It's just bread with meat and cheese in the middle..." Lon'qu was lost in finding the point in such a conversation. Taking the sharp knife out from being wedged in the wood of the table, he sliced his meal in half, stabbed the knife back into the table and held one half out to her. "Here."

Cordelia knew better than to refuse his offer, as it would cause an awkward back-and-forth situation that would just repel him from conversing with her further. "Thank you for this."

He grunted and sat at the table; he ate slowly. His eyes never once landed on her, and he ate stiffly. Cordelia felt bad as she knew she was disrupting what probably was his quiet time. His jaw flexed with each hard bite he took from his meal. She could see the muscles flexing in his face, his defined jawline, high cheekbone. His dark brown speckled with green eyes appeared brighter as the sunshine hit his face at an angle. His nose was long, yet fitting. With hair that framed his face in a manly way, nearly as long as Chrom's.

 _Oh, Chrom_. Cordelia thought to herself sadly.

"A-Er, are you alright?" His voice rang out breaking her thoughts.

"I'm sorry what?" Cordelia raised an eyebrow.

"You've been staring at me," His eyes finally met hers, and her heart dropped a bit. "Are you alright?"

She bit her lip before responding, a blush rising to her cheeks. "I'm sorry, my thoughts drifted away. I'm fine."

He smirked, the closest thing to a smile she'd seen so far. "What's wrong with Chrom?"

She wanted to roll her eyes into the back of her head and die. "Gods..."

Lon'qu really didn't care about whatever form of infatuation the red-head in front of him held for the prince he was currently serving. "What did Robin have to say?"

Thankful for the conversation change, Cordelia turned seriously to the topic at hand. "Well, seeing as how we're the two newest recruits to the army...Robin thinks it best that we team up for future battle."

Surprisingly, Cordelia saw no change in Lon'qu's demeanor. She had thought that he would surely overreact and protest. "Is that alright with you?"

He nodded and stuffed the last bite of his meal in his mouth, raising an eyebrow at her surprised gaze.

"It's just that, I thought you'd be more comfortable with a male companion in the heat of battle."

"Gender doesn't matter," Lon'qu said seriously. "In the heat of battle I can overcome my inclinations, you have no need to worry. Seeing how easily Robin led the victory against Khan Basilio and the last battle, I have no doubt in her strategies."

Cordelia smiled wide, happy that he had no problem being her partner. Lon'qu noted that she was indeed a very attractive woman when she had a more carefree facial expression. "Robin also suggested we spend more time together."

At this Lon'qu tensed. "This on the other hand I have no desire to obey."

"I think it'd be good for you. I think it would make us a stronger unit in battle."

"I will think about it," Lon'qu murmured quietly, rubbing his hand on the stubble of his chin. "I'm not completely against the idea of spending time with you per say, but it will take time for me to become comfortable around you."

Her crimson eyes glimmered in happiness. "Take as much as you need!"

Lon'qu smirked and began to clean off the table. "You are an excellent fighter, Cordelia. Unparalleled in your craft. I look forward to fighting by your side in future battles."

Cordelia captured his gaze and held it, her eyes pierced through his composure. "I look forward to breaking down those walls."

Lon'qu eyed her warily and massaged the back of his head, his large bicep flexing with the motion, an action that Cordelia did not miss. "I didn't mean to make you feel uncomfortable."

"It's alright," He laughed to himself. "Anything you do makes me uncomfortable. I need this change in my life."

The beautiful red-head rose and slid her hands down her armor to remove any crumbs that might have lingered. Her hands slid down and up the hour glass figure that was still visible through her light armor. Lon'qu's eyes registered the motion and quickly looked to the floor, as he wasn't a pervert in the slightest. "So tomorrow I'll meet you in the training tent for fencing practice and afterward we can decide what we'll do for our bonding!"

"Is it bonding now?" Lon'qu teased.

Cordelia blushed and cursed it mentally as her blushes were always incredibly visible. "Since you treated me to supper today, I'll cook for you tomorrow? What's your favorite meal?"

Lon'qu coughed, embarrassed, and backed up fluidly from Cordelia. "I, uh, don't have one yet."

"I've been told I'm a hell of a cook."

"Oh," Lon'qu said lamely. Cordelia mentally slapped herself for talking too much. "Have a nice night then, Cordelia."

Cordelia quickly went to the entrance of his tent and smiled sheepishly at him. "And you as well, Lon'qu! Thank you again for supper, it was delicious!"

* * *

As Cordelia walked away she felt ashamed, and her face showed it. On the way to her respective tent, Stahl and Chrom had noticed her angered facial expression.

"Cordelia?" Chrom called worriedly. "Are you alright?"

The fuming girl jumped and cursed herself a million times while waving off Chrom and Stahl's concerns. As they reluctantly continued on their path, Cordelia ran and slumped on the cot of her tent. While everyone regarded Cordelia as as close to perfection a person could get, Cordelia felt majorly imperfect. Her encounter with Lon'qu for supper hadn't gone terribly bad, but she still felt that she talked too much, too loud, too idiotically. His eyes simplified her, and she wasn't given a prestigious position in his world, the way he spoke to her said as much.

"He's a nice guy," Cordelia spoke to herself patronizingly. "Just because he doesn't speak with the softest inflection doesn't mean he's a stand-offish guy. He has his problems and I have mine..."

She was so used to being treated like she was perfect that she supposed that she had accepted it as fact at a certain point, and was turned off by how Lon'qu regarded her. He was a refreshing change that was necessary for her, and she couldn't wait to meet up again with him tomorrow. She laid down on her soft handmade cot and fell asleep quickly.

* * *

Lon'qu dreaded this. All of it. He sat at his table and ran through the terrible memories of the death of his loved one. And this girl, Cordelia, reminded him so much of his late love. He didn't want to risk getting close to another and then losing her when stuff got muddy in battle. When she told him about being partners for the war, his heart had dropped and he tried his hardest to maintain an emotionless facial expression. He had the responsibility of another life on his shoulders.

"Ah," Lon'qu sighed and bit into an apple he had sneaked from the mess hall. The red reminded him even more strongly of his new, serious comrade in arms.

* * *

He hadn't met her until the battle they had two days prior. He had been surrounded by axe-wielding foes, foes of which did not hold up the value of fighting fair. He had heard Robin fighting quite comfortably with Chrom by her side, taking out enemies every couple of minutes. With their trust strong and love even stronger, they fought with ease, almost with less stress because they the other would cover any openings they had. Lon'qu had heard Robin calling out to him.

" _LON'QU WAIT JUST A MINUTE BACKUP IS COMING FOR YOU IN A MOMENT!"_

Through the struggle of battle, Lon'qu could barely make out her words as his killing edge sparked and rang with each collision of a weapon he encountered. Suddenly, pegasus feathers showered over him, and enemies were being lifted into the sky quickly just to be dropped down like a sack of potatoes with multiple punctures in their chest.

He could make out a head of long, pointy red locks that blazed through the skies like a rampant flame. She yelled for him to jump on and noting the hoard of tome wielders making their way toward them, he complied. As her strong pegasus cut through the hair quickly they talked strategy circling the battlefield once, he relaying all that he remembered that Robin had discussed.

The tides had turned and the battle proceeded without flaw. Lon'qu doing the close combat while Cordelia soared over the gaping abyss, throwing javelins and splitting skulls in half each time. When things looked questionable for Lon'qu, Cordelia would whistle just as she soared in, fully capable of realizing when a good fighter was in a bad fight. She had earned his respect in that battle. When he had mounted her pegasus once more and they soared up high and away out of the rang of archers, she turned around slightly and smiled warmly.

"You're absolutely beautiful with the sword."

Lon'qu bit his cheek and nodded in thanks, feeling his face heat up a bit, her beauty catching him off guard. With near perfect features, full, soft lips, warm pomegranate eyes. She repelled him entirely.

"You man this beast well," He patted the side of the beast and help onto the saddle.

"I raised him," Cordelia laughed, exhilarated by the battle. "I expect him to ride and obey above average."

* * *

Now as Lon'qu laid on the cot, he tried to decipher his moves for the next day. A simple dinner was nothing incredibly out of his comfort zone. He would aid in her cooking to get it over with as soon as possible. Eating with her wouldn't be a problem, their lunch that dragged on to being supper had ended well in his opinion. She was pleasant to be around and knew when to be silent.

What unnerved him was her staring at him, and then muttering Chrom's name as if she had a bitter heartbreak. He hated when women stared at him. Just Lissa staring at him made him want to scream. But she didn't regard him as anything but a difficult comrade and he appreciated that. She was more than formidable enough to partner up with him, and he wanted nothing more than to duel her against her native weapon, the lance.

Standing up, Lon'qu began to head for the mess-hall. He needed to brew his special concoction for ridding himself of his nightmares at night.

* * *

Not being able to find rest in the late hours of the night, Cordelia decided to head to the mess-hall to satiate her sweet tooth. _Just one square of dark chocolate should be enough._

* * *

"Well, I didn't expect you here at this late hour, Lon'qu!" Cordelia said in surprise as she spied his broad shoulders looming over her a tea kettle, his shoulders slumped tiredly.

Lon'qu rubbed his eyes and grunted.

As Cordelia silently ransacked the underground storage, she attempted pulling out a huge bag of potatoes, and ended up using too much effort, throwing her off balance only to land on her back with the heavy potatoes crushing her stomach. "Gods!"

Lon'qu was by her side in an instant and immediately tore off the bag. "Are you alright?"

"Fine, fine," Cordelia flushed, embarrassed. "Thank you."

Her eyes drifted to the screaming kettle on the stove.

"Are you brewing tea?"

"You could call it that," Lon'qu mused removing the kettle from the heat. "Much too strong to be regarded as tea in my opinion. Some people call it a poison, but it helps me sleep for the night."

Cordelia watched as he poured himself a cup, his face truly serene, his eyebrows relaxed and his eyes half-lidded. Now she had an idea as to why Lissa found him oh so handsome. "May I have some?"

"Go ahead," Lon'qu shrugged, not moving to pour her any. "Don't blame me if you don't like it. Goodnight."

He was out of the tent heading towards his own before she could muster a response.

"A true gentleman," She bit out sarcastically. She poured herself a bit and twirled a teaspoon around the dark green liquid that had bits of fresh herbs drifting in it. "This looks delicious, I can handle strong drinks!"

Cordelia downed the whole drink in one go.

She got no sleep that night.

* * *

 **Thank you to the reviewer that pointed out that 'p' style crap. Looks like this website can't handle a simple fucking indent. Well I hope you all enjoyed and please review if you did! I look forward to writing often and hopefully finishing this story before summer ends if enough people are interested. It's hard to completely capture the personality of these character from just the support conversations we see in-game. I hope I did them justice!**


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